Time To Ride: Pitt Hosts Broncs To Open 2026-27 Season

Monday, November 2

Pittsburgh, Pa.

7:00 PM

Pitt

Rider

Tickets From $18 - $48

10/31/2026 8:53:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes Watch On ACCNX Live Stats Tickets

Pitt (0-0) vs. Rider (0-0)

Date: Nov. 2, 2026
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. | Petersen Events Center (12,508)
Television/Streaming: ACC Network Extra (Jeff Hathhorn | Nick Rivers)
Panthers Radio Network: Flagship Coverage 93.7 The Fan (Bill Hillgrove | Curtis Aiken)
X/Instagram: @Pitt_Athletics | @Pitt_MBB

THE OPENING TIP

The Pitt men's basketball team (13-20 in 2025-26) opens the 2026-27 season by hosting Rider (4-25 in 2025-26) Monday night at 7 p.m.
Jeff Hathhorn and Nick Rivers will call the game for ACC Network Extra.
Beginning his 58th season on the mic, Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play) and broadcast partner Curtis Aiken (analysis) will provide the commentary of the game on the Panthers Radio Network (flagship coverage on 93.7 The Fan).
Pitt returns just one scholarship player from a year ago as Macari Moore will don the Blue and Gold for a second straight year. Thirteen new players join him (11 transfers and two freshmen), with six of those players having previous experience in the ACC.
Rider brought in 14 new players following last year's 4-25 season, meaning the two teams combine for 27 new players in the season opener.
Pitt and Rider will meet for the third time, with all three meetings coming at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers have won each of the previous two meetings, which took place in back-to-back seasons in 2010-11 and 2011-12

WHO ARE THESE GUYS?

The Pitt men's basketball team has undergone a transformation from a year ago, with 13 new players joining one scholarship returnee (Macari Moore) and two walk-on returnees (Benjamin Mayhew and Jajuan Nelson).
However, fans of the ACC will recognize some of them, as six of the transfers have prior ACC experience.
Jonathan Powell spent the 2025-26 season at North Carolina and also played against Pitt during his 2024-25 campaign at West Virginia.
Jalil Bethea played the 2024-25 season in the ACC at Miami before transferring to Alabama last year.
Naithan George has been at two previous schools, beginning his career at Georgia Tech from 2023-25 before transferring to Syracuse a year ago.
Akir Souare took the same path as George, playing two years at Georgia Tech before transferring to Syracuse for the 2025-26 season.
Baye Ndongo played alongside George and Souare at Georgia Tech as he played three seasons for the Yellow Jackets from 2023-26.
Finally, Armani Mighty spent two seasons at Boston College (from 2022-24) before transferring to Central Michigan and then a breakout campaign at Mercer in 2025-26.

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM, JOIN THEM

Five of those six players have already seen the Panthers from the other bench.
Jonathan Powell, Naithan George, Akir Souare, Baye Ndongo and Armani Mighty have combined to play in 14 games against Pitt. The Panthers were 8-6 in those contests.

PORTAL PASSENGERS

Five Pitt transfers have not played in the ACC, and they come from a variety of situations around the country.
A'lahn Sumler was an all-conference player at Charleston Southern a year ago, leading the Big South in scoring (18.9 ppg) and assists (3.8 apg). That came after sitting out the entire 2024-25 season following a breakout sophomore campaign, averaging 14.2 points per game. He began his career at Northern Kentucky, where he played 28 games as a freshman in 2022-23.
Colin Hawkins played two seasons at Gardner-Webb before transferring to Pitt. He started all 31 games for the Runnin' Bulldogs in 2025-26, averaging 8.2 points in 27.4 minutes.
Dominique Diomande began his career at Washington, where he joined the program in January of 2025 and sat out the remainder of the season. Last year he played in 24 games at BYU, where he learned behind the NBA's No. 1 draft pick AJ Dybantsa, who led the country in scoring.
Kraig Gilbert was a dynamic scorer at NCAA Division II Concord (W.Va.). As a freshman in 2024-25, he averaged 9.1 points and 6.0 rebounds and then elevated his game as a sophomore, averaging 16.3 points over 14 games before injury shortened his season. He was 36-of-75 (48.0 percent) from three-point range in those 14 games.
Timofei Rudovskii continues to rehab from injury but averaged 12.9 points and 4.6 rebounds as a freshman at Bryant in 2025-26. He shot 35.1 percent from three-point range, making 67.

FRESH FACES, HIGH CEILINGS

Along with those 11 transfers, Pitt added two highly touted freshmen in Chase Foster and Jermal Jones Jr., who played together at IMG Academy.
Foster will look to make an immediate impact on the Panthers. As the highest-ranked recruit in the class, Foster has size, shooting touch and versatility to stretch the floor and defend multiple positions.
Jones Jr. has the type of toughness and grit that defines Pittsburgh. He has defensive potential and versatility as a guard. He can knock down shots, defend at a high level and attack the basket.

HOMECOMING ON THE BENCH

When Jeff Capel retooled his coaching staff in the offseason, he went looking for coaches who could teach his team how to win with grit, and he found two perfect fits in former Panthers Ricardo Greer and Ronald Ramón.
Associate Head Coach Ricardo Greer played for Pitt from 1997-01, leading the Panthers through one of their most successful eras in the Big East. He finished his career among Pitt's all-time leaders in scoring and rebounding. Following a successful professional playing career, Greer turned to the coaching profession and most recently served as associate head coach at Dayton.
Assistant Coach Ronald Ramón is a 2008 Pitt graduate and compiled a 101-35 record during his career. He helped Pitt reach four NCAA Tournaments and win the 2008 Big East Tournament. Most recently, he served as an assistant coach at Iona.

OPENING STRONG

Pitt is 83-36 all-time in season openers and 19-2 in season openers inside the Petersen Events Center. In total, the Panthers have won 26 of their last 29 season openers and four in a row.
Pitt has won 22-of-24 home openers at the Petersen Events Center and is 96-23 all-time in home openers.
Jeff Capel is 13-4 in his head coaching career in season openers, including a mark of 6-2 at Pitt.

MORE OF MOORE

Macari Moore is the lone scholarship player to return to Pitt from a year ago.
A 6-foot-3 guard from Ann Arbor, Mich., Moore appeared in 22 games as a freshman in 2025-26, averaging 1.4 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists. The numbers were modest, but the efficiency wasn't: he shot 75.0 percent from three-point range and 87.5 percent from the free-throw line.
A three-star signee out of Huron High School, Moore was ranked among the nation's top point guards in the 2025 class and originally committed to Iowa State before reopening his recruitment and choosing Pitt.
With every other scholarship player new to the program, Moore is the only scholarship Panther who doesn't need to learn Pitt's culture, program standards or day-to-day rhythms from scratch.
His freshman season may have come with limited minutes, but it makes him the most experienced voice in a locker room otherwise full of newcomers, from former high-major starters to proven mid-major scorers.

FOUR-DIGIT FIREPOWER

Pitt enters the 2026-27 season with three players who have already surpassed 1,000 career points, two of whom have done it playing their entire careers in the ACC.
Baye Ndongo is the team's leading career scorer with 1,133 points. Naithan George follows with 1,051 and A'lahn Sumler has 1,024 career points.

PASSPORTS PLEASE

Pitt's 2026-27 roster has a distinctly international flavor, with players bringing connections from Canada, Senegal, Guinea, France and Russia to Oakland.
Naithan George and Armani Mighty both hail from Toronto, while Baye Ndongo was born in Senegal, Akir Souare in Guinea, Dominique Diomande in France and Timofei Rudovskii in Russia.
It gives Jeff Capel's newest roster a unique makeup: a group of players who have taken very different paths to Pittsburgh, but all arrived with the same goal—to make their mark in the ACC.
Pitt's 2026-27 roster isn't just new. It's global.
With six international players on the roster, it makes for the most diverse men's basketball team in program history, just ahead of teams that featured five international players in 2025-26, 2024-25, 2018-19 and 2017-18.

NO PLACE LIKE THE PETE

Pitt has compiled a 325-105 (.756) record, including a 189-20 (.904) ledger in non-conference play, at the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt is 28-31 (.475) versus teams ranked in the top 25 of the AP Poll at the Petersen Events Center, with a 14-11 (.560) mark against top-10 teams and a 9-5 (.643) ledger versus teams ranked in the top-5.

WHEN IT'S 80, IT'S GREAT

Pitt is 55-3 under Jeff Capel when reaching the 80-point mark in a game.
Pitt won 32 consecutive games when scoring 80 or more points until falling 98-88 to NC State in the ACC Tournament second round to close the 2025-26 season.
Pitt is 40-0 at home under Capel when scoring 80+ points.
Pitt has won 153 consecutive home games when scoring 80+ points since a 90-83 double overtime loss to St. John's on Jan. 22, 1998.